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Posts tagged ‘Wesley Dodds’

The Flash debuted as the cover feature in the first issues of Flash Comics, but he was only one of five new characters in that book. His popularity lead to him getting his own comic, but as Flash Comics already existed, he wound up with the awkwardly titled All-Flash as his solo book.

Jay Garrick was a college student working on a hard water experiment. He was not the most diligent student, he took a smoke break and unwittingly knocked some of the chemical apparatus over. The fumes overpowered him, and he passed out, waking in a hospital bed. Jay discovered that he had gained a speeded-up nervous system as a result of the accident, and in the first issue saves his girlfriend Joan and her father, a retired army major, from Sieur Satan and the Faultless Four.

Jay wore a red shirt with a lightning bolt on it, blue pants, and winged shoes and a winged helmet, making him look like a modern version of Mercury (or the FTD florist).

The series was written by Gardner Fox, and the stories are fairly serious and straightforward, but the art by E.E. Hibbard was critical to the success of the series, adding an almost slapstick feel to it. There are so many panels of characters with stunned and disbelieving expressions as Flash runs around chaotically.

Aside from running quickly, the Flash can spin so fast he becomes effectively invisible. Somehow this does not create a breeze, as he stands right next to people while spinning, and they have no idea he is there. His speed is never clocked precisely, but in issue 9 he runs 2000 miles in 3 hours. In issue 24 he gets captured and chained up, but rubs his chains together with such speed that the metal melts.

Joan Williams appears in every story, his girlfriend and confidant, aware of his identity from the beginning. Neither she nor Jay really get developed much though. We never see her father again after the first issue, and never learn anything about Jay’s life before the accident. Jay graduates from university, and gets a job at Chemical Research Incorporated, but we never see him at work, or anyone else from the laboratory. Joan gets a job as Defense Coordination Secretary in Flash 25, investigating gangland influence in the munitions industry, but only for that one story.

In All-Flash 5 he gets sidekicks, in a way. Winky, Blinky and Noddy are three somewhat shady wanna-be inventors, who accidentally create things that work: a personality-switching ray in All-Flash 6’s “The Ray That Changed Men’s Souls,” and an invisibility vitamin in All-Flash 12’s “Tumble In to Trouble.” Blinky hypnotizes himself into gaining super-strength in All-Flash 13’s “The Muscleman, the Djinn, and the Flash.” Most of their appearances, as you may have guessed, were in the pages of All-Flash. Unlike the Superman and Batman solo books, All-Flash tended to run full-length stories, rather than having four shorter ones, and Winky, Blinky and Noddy helped expand the stories out to their desired length.

The gambler Deuces Wilde would also become a minor supporting character in the Flash series, again appearing in All-Flash, issues 10 and 14. Deuces Wilde is the only positive portrayal of a gambler I have come across in 1940s stories so far.

The Justice Society of America make an appearance in the first issue of All-Flash, rewarding him with his own book, as Johnny Thunder excitedly points out that he will be taking the Flash’s spot on the team. The rule at this time was that Justice Society members had to move to honourary membership when they got their own series, but Green Lantern, Hawkman, Dr. Fate, the Sandman, the Spectre, the Atom and Hourman all rejoice at the Flash’s success.

Four of the Flash’s major villains also debut in this era.

The Monocle appears in All-Flash 1, a criminal with upper-class pretensions, he has his men steal jewels that he uses in his “garden of gems.” He does have the wit to use a strobe light against the Flash, making it easier for his goons to see the hero, though it doesn’t help much overall. The Monocle does not return until the 1980s.

The Shade debuts in Flash Comics 33’s “The Man Who Commanded the Night.” He wears all black, with a top hat and black glasses, though in this story he has long white hair. He had created a machine that spreads darkness throughout the city, a blackness that absorbs all light, but arms his men with special guns that shoot a reflective dust so they can see.

Rag Doll is a circus contortionist who turns to crime in Flash Comics 36, “The Tale of the Treasure Hunt.” As with the Shade, there is no hint of the character development that would come later, these are just simple, straightforward bad guys.

The Thinker makes two appearances in the era, and even has his true name, Clifford DeVoe, revealed at the end of his first story, All-Flash 12’s “Tumble in to Trouble.” In this story he has spent ten years working out crimes in elaborate detail, accounting for all possible scenarios, at least until the Flash shows up and messes up his schemes.

He returns in All-Flash 14’s “The Man Who Unleashed the Past,” which is easily my favourite story from this era. It opens with Winky, Blinky and Noddy at the offices of DC Comics, discovering that All-Flash 14 has not been finished, and taking over the writing and drawing of the series. The Thinker cons them into believing they have created a machine that pulls creatures from the past into the present, but that’s inconsequential compared to characters escaping situation by breaking panel boundaries, Winky,Blinky and Noddy asking Gardner Fox and E.E. Hibbard for help in catching the Thinker, and editor Sheldon Mayer freaking out over where the story is going. Doiby Dickles almost helps them fight the bad guys until Green Lantern pops in points out that they are in the wrong comic.

Those who know the Barry Allen Flash may see some foreshadowing here of the use of editor Julius Schwartz in stories from the 60s and 70s, and there are a number of elements that would return in much later stories – alternate dimensional versions of the Flash and his friends and foes, as well as time travel, but none of it is dealt with very seriously. Jay Garrick always has a big smile and a cheerful insouciance when fighting crime.

The Flash continues in the Late Golden Age

A few of the Flash’s major foes appeared in this early part of his run. The Monocle, The Shade, Rag Doll

The Sandman series would undergo huge changes in this period, and it’s an oddity of comics history that the fondly remembered costume, and the fondly remembered stories, do not correspond at all.

Wesley Dodds continues to fight crime in his suit, cape and gasmask, most often dealing with kidnappings and jewel robberies as he moves through his high society life. In Adventure Comics 47 he encounters a female safe cracker, The Lady in Evening Clothes, who winds up helping him take down her gang. Although she gives her name as Diana Ware, by the end of the story she learns that she is really Dian Belmont, the long-missing daughter of District Attorney Belmont.

With no hesitation, Wesley reveals his identity to her, and they become a couple both in romantic terms and crime fighting ones, though most often Dian is relegated to driving the car and getting information. Adventure Comics 56 gives her her best story, as Wesley gets kidnapped and she disguises herself as the Sandman to free him.

The gas gun is used less frequently as the series progresses, and Wes invents a new weapon in issue 61, the wire-poon gun, which he uses to scale buildings and get from rooftop to rooftop.

Although he gets no recurring villains, Sandman does fight an impressive array of foes in this period, who easily could have returned. Borloff has a metal dissolving ray and a flying cylindricraft, one thief uses invisibility paint, another a hypnotic ruby. Professor Doobie commits crimes using a shrinking serum in issue 67, then shrinks Sandman and Dian when they try to apprehend him.

The big change in the series comes with Adventure Comics 69, as Wes gets a new costume and sidekick, but these changes are not reflected at first in his stories in World’s Finest Comics, meaning Dian has her final appearance in World’s Finest 5. There is no explanation for her disappearance or the costume change, though Roy Thomas would provide answers for both in All-Star Squadron in the 80s. He has Dian die in a car accident at this time, but as she is later shown to have become an elderly woman, the car accident must not have been fatal.

Sandy debuts in issue 69, in a costume he claims he patterned after Sandman’s. This is curious, as his costume does match that of Sandman, but it matches the costume he has just started wearing, a skin-tight gold and purple outfit, with a purple cape. Sandy is in gold and red, with a red cape. He is an orphan, staying at a farmhouse where the owner has experimented with creating giant bees, not thinking about the deadly giant stingers that would come with them. Wes apparently adopts Sandy at the end of the story, as they live together from this point on. Sandy’s last name is given as McGann in issue 71, but Hawkins in issue 73, and from then on.

Incidentally, Sandy’s full superhero name is Sandy the Golden Boy. I believe this would win not only gayest superhero name, but also least likely to make a villain scared of you.

They wear the caped version of the costume until issue 71, but when Jack Kirby takes over the art the capes are abandoned. It takes a few more issues for Sandy to get a red collar, and Sandman to get the purple scallopy thing that goes down to his shoulders.

Simon and Kirby take the reins of this series with Adventure Comics 72, and the series quickly excels virtually everything else coming from DC at this time. The trademark of leaving sand behind had pretty much fallen by the wayside when Simon and Kirby replace it with the “calling card” that reads

There is no place beyond the law

Where tyrants rule with unshakable power

It’s a dream from which the evil wake

To face their fate…their terrifying hour

The Sandman

But more importantly, they begin playing with the concept of dreams, right from the get-go. In their first story, a human slaver has a nightmare about being caught by the Sandman. It turns out he is already in jail, the dream reflects events that have occurred, but it quickly becomes a theme in the series that the bad guys have nightmares about the Sandman before actually encountering him.

And though the costumes are somewhat tired and generic, even for this early era, the overall art is astounding. Kirby gives an art deco feel to everything, and the action is far more dynamic than in other artists works.

Two of the villains the Sandman faces at this time would be resurrected in the pages of All-Star Squadron. Nightshade, who has a great mask and a bunch of fake plants and traps in his “magic forest” debuts in World’s Finest 6, while Adventure Comics 75 introduces Fairytales Fenton, “The Villain from Valhalla,” who pretends to be the Norse god Thor. This is, I believe, the first time Kirby would render a Thor character, but obviously not the last! This story also has a beautiful full-page panel of Sandman and the police fighting “Thor” and his viking henchmen.

Sandman deals with an insomniac who turns to crime in issue 80’s “The Man Who Couldn’t Sleep,” and a narcoleptic framed for murder in 87’s “I Hate the Sandman.” The idea of wedding cake dreams foretelling the person you will marry is tidily worked into issue 83’s “The Lady and the Champ.”

I am restraining myself from detailing every single Simon and Kirby issue, though it is tempting to do so. Even their weaker stories are so above the mass of other tales being released at this time, but I will limit myself to only talking about three more.

Sandy gets a starring role in issue 81’s “A Drama in Dreams.” He is surprised to discover Wes having a nightmare about the Sandman, and realizes Wes has been kidnapped and impersonated. Sandy tracks him down and once Wes gets free he takes out his impersonator, and pretends to be him to get to the guy behind it all.

“Santa Fronts for the Mob,” in issue 82, begins with a hilarious nightmare of department store owner P.P. Miller, who imagines that without a good store Santa people will picket and boycott his establishment. The man he hires has mob ties, but grows to love the job and the kids so much, when the time comes to rob the store he helps the Sandman take down the bad guys. Somehow this story manages to capture much the same feeling as movies like “Miracle on 34th Street” and “Holiday Affair,” both also 1940s department store-based Christmas tales.

In my eyes, the crowning glory of this run is Adventure Comics 85, “The Unholy Dreams of Gentleman Jack.” This opens with a prisoner dreaming of being waited on hand and foot by the guards, and Sandman bursting into his cell. Once he is released from prison, he has his apartment made up to resemble a jail, and his servants dressed as guards. He lures Sandman to his place, so we get the visual from the dream a second time, but just shows him around and gets him off his guard, so his men can capture him. Gentleman Jack has Sandman put into a gas chamber to kill him, and goes to bed, unaware that Sandy has been following him. Sandy frees Sandman as Jack dreams that his servants are now acting like actual prison guards, and just as Sandman appears in his nightmare (the third time for the same visual) he wakes, discovering Sandman in his room, as well as police, playing that same visual for the fourth time in 10 pages! Each time we see Jack, the Sandman, the cell and the guards it is from a different perspective, and it is shown from another angle on the cover as well. This story could easily be muddled or repetitive, but instead is a thorough delight.

Simon and Kirby were drafted before the end of the war. A few stories were kept aside, but other artists and writers were put onto the series with issue 91. The art is not terrible, but has none of Kirby’s inspiration or skill, and the stories drop Simon’s dream motif entirely.

Sandman debuted, with a cover appearance, in the New York World’s Fair special, which came out in the spring of 1939. We were told very little about him. Rich Wesley Dodds (sometimes Dodd) had invented a ray gun he was exhibiting at the Fair. When the plans got stolen, Wes put on an orange suit, purple cape and green fedora, as well as a World War I-style gas mask and hunted them down, using a gas gun (which I’m sure he invented as well) to incapacitate the thieves. He leaves behind a sprinkling of sand as a “calling card.”

In the story, it is clear Wes has been operating as the Sandman for a while. He gets recognized by both the villain and the police, one of whom comments that he had “hunted for you often, and failed.”

Sandman was believed to be a criminal. Certainly he looked like one, with the spooky mask. He was featured on alternating covers of Adventure Comics in this period, and on the ones with generic covers he was in a “bullet” in the top centre of the book. These covers are great, very evocative, but would absolutely make you think the man in the picture was not the hero.

And it seems they took a while to know what to do with him. His run in Adventure opens with him tracking down and capturing the Tarantula, a kidnapper who is hidden in the house of his victim, Virginia Dale. This is a very good story, capturing the creepy mood of the main character. It is the only appearance of his butler, Humphries, and of the strange Sandman doll Wes leaves sitting on his bed. Humphries and the Doll would next appear in Matt Wagner’s four-part expansion of this tale, The Tarantula, which began his Sandman Mystery Theatre series.

Issue 44 pits Sandman against a disguise artist, the Face, who would also return in Sandman Mystery Theatre.

But between those two stories the series doesn’t quite seem to know what it is. Wes wears the mask, but not the rest of the costume, in issues 41 and 43. He busts a narcotics den-boat in the earlier story, and swims to get there, so is bare chested, but masked. In the latter, Wes is on holiday flying around the tropics, and literally swoops in to rescue a girl (and strafe the bad guys), and only has the mask. There is no sand sprinkling, and none of the mood of the Tarantula tale.

But the story in issue 42 is even odder. Wes meets up with former members of the squadron he flew with in World War I. There are only three of them left, others have been murdered recently, by a former corrupt soldier they informed on. They take to the air to capture him, and call themselves the “Three Sandmen.” This story has never been touched on by any writer since.

With the Face story in 44, and a very good fake kidnapping scam in issue 45, Sandman returns to the feel it had with its start. Wes now has a butler named Feathers (is that really better than Humphries?), and sprinkles sand again.

There is no hint of the many and varied directions the Sandman serieses would take over the years, except for the unusual mask, and the feeling that something is not quite right with this hero.